Succumb to Temptation
by Calvemir
Summary: Following the order of his master, Ulquiorra gathers information about the enemy. In the end he even has to kidnap one particular orange haired, loud mouthed girl. What does Aizen want with  Kurosaki Ichigo? Ulquixfem!Ichi
1. Prologue

**Hey there! This is my first published story. There was one story that inspired me to write this story: Come Undone by ladyaffirmed. Her story is awesome so check it out, it's totally worth the time you will spend to reading it! Note that the main pairing in here will be Ulquixfem!Ichi. I don't know why I changed Ichigos gender... I think he just popped up as a girl in my crazy mind,:D **

**Have fun 3**

**Oh and of course I have to say: I don't own Bleach or any used character!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Succumb to Temptation<span>**

_Prologue:_

The sun was gone long ago and the unnatural light given by the street lamps was the last thing securing the shape of our surroundings against the darkness. I could sense something moving in the shadows.

"Come out coward." my partner, Rukia, said.

A snicker could be heard and I saw something white stepping out of the dark.

´What's that?` I mused. Whatever it was that stepped out it reminded me of a stick that was as thick as my arm.

"You are not as dull as I thought." the appearing hollow giggled in a crazy way.

The gigantic monster blocked the alley we were currently standing in. "Urgh!" I breathed out examining eight bony, white legs linked to a broad black torso. It resembled a spider... and I couldn't stand those animals.

"What are you waiting for? An invitation?" I heard Rukia voice.

I eyed her sceptically. The thought of touching this... one – though just with Zangetsu- send a shiver down my spine.

"I'm not fighting this... this THING!" I snapped angry, ignoring the growl escaping our offended enemy totally. I didn't care so I turned my back on the black and white existence.

"You are a substitute Shinigami. So do what you are told to do." She demanded sternly.

Sometimes Rukias cold professionalism about a Shinigamis duty just pushed me over the edge.

I stood there, still not paying attention to the aggressive hollow, locking gazes with the black haired girl and fighting an inner battle with her.

The battle ended when her gaze shifted to a point behind me, her eyes widening slightly.

"Ichigo!" I heard Rukia call my name. I turned quickly around and was taken aback when the giant hollow in front of me shot a thick thread out of its mouth towards me. I jumped as fast as I could to the left trying to dodge the attack. Landing on the ground I noticed something felt strange. I looked at myself and detected some of the sticky stuff on my right leg. ´Gross!` I screamed inaudible and started to shudder again with a twisted face.

Rukia's patience –now back in bossy mode- was wearing thin. "Hurry up and finish it off already!" she commanded.

I looked at my companion with pleading eyes.

"Could you take care of it? Just this once… please?" I asked in a whining tone.

My so called friend jumped up to a higher rooftop. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and watched me with impatience.

"Com' on Rukiaaaa! You know how much I hate touching those spiderlike thingies!" I shouted to the smaller girl pointing at the black and white toned monster across from me. The lavender coloured orbs grew a nuance colder. I knew continuing this would get me kicked in the ass so I muttered defeated "A simple 'No' would have been enough for an answer..."

I got into my regular fighting stance. At least I tried before I noticed that something was terribly wrong with my right leg. I took a second look at my afflicted limb, but the spider webs had vanished though I could sense the effect of immobility crawling up the rest of my body.

"Shit!" I swore when my right arm lost its hold of Zangetsu and dangled limply at my side.

"What's wrong?" Rukia asked concerned. Her hand rested now on the hilt of Sode no Shirayuki.

The spiderlike hollow bursted out laughing madly "Shouldn't have underestimated me Shinigami!" it roared and sprung towards me.

I succeeded blocking one of its sharp legs with my sword, but didn't see the other one coming that injured my left shoulder. Blood was spilling from the wound and it was painful but bearable.

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouted and leaped to the ground, her Zanpakuto now being fully unsheathed, immediately running towards us.

"Do. Not. Interfere." I ordered emphasizing every word. The piercing glance I gave her made the girl cease her movements down to none.

My attention was directed back to my enemy. "I will do this world a favour and get rid of your disgusting existence." I said with an icy tone. My left arm tensed up and with a hard push I was able to throw the hollow a few feet away. My lips formed a dark smirk mocking how weak -though armed with a tricky ability- this thing was.

"You shouldn't laugh at your death bringer's face." It growled more than advised seriously and prepared itself to attack me once more, the hate radiating from this figure being almost visivble.

As time passed by I was losing more and more control of my body. I decided that this job had to be done in one effective counter strike as long as I was still able to move my left arm.

The beast launched forward with killing intent, ready to cut me with every single of its eight limbs into pieces.

Analyzing its speed and the melting distance between us I slashed once hollering "Getsuga Tensho!"

A black, red-outlined energy flew in the monster's direction. When the hollow took the hit fully, not being able to avoid my blast one bit, it screeched awfully loud.

"You shouldn't overestimate yourself." I whispered looking into the hollow orbits. The black and white creature collapsed onto the dirty ground -now sliced in two parts- and disappeared.

"You could have used a less blasting attack to kill it." Rukia stated standing beside me. Her eyes were scanning our surroundings, estimating the damage the nearest buildings had taken from the blow.

"This ugly and gross thing had to be punished in a reasonable amount for touching me." I spat and brushed my black Shinigami attire. There weren't many things that made my skin crawl like spiders and what they brought out.

"You can move normally again." Rukia commented more than asked.

"Seems so." I answered a little surprised opening and closing both of my hands. I guessed that the effect of the spider web wore instantly off with the death of its producer.

"What about your wound?" she questioned me glancing over.

I reached for my left shoulder carefully. The contact made me hiss and squint my eyes shut.

"It will be fine." was all I said in a sigh.

My black haired friend nodded and turned around. Leaving me alone after saying "I'll go report to the others how everything went. You should head home."

My eyes followed her silhouette till it melted with the dark night. I let some more moments pass by, while stretching my arms and legs, before jumping up to an undamaged roof and started running towards my home. It took me only a short period of time and I was standing in the window of my room. The moment I looked down at the still form in my bed, that belonged to me a chilling sensation flashed through me and I embraced myself to stop the uncontrollable shaking that overtook my soul.

I looked around but wasn't able to catch anything that could have caused this state I was in.

´Maybe it's an after-effect of the hollows power.` I thought and continued my way back into my room. I slipped into my real body and fell asleep ignoring the attempt of my mind to comprehend what had happened moments before.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! If you read something that is not quite right, like e.g. mentioned attacks, or you detect me using wrong terms I would be really greatful if you could tell me ;)<strong>

**I have to admit that I only read some chapters of the manga and not every sinlge one... shame on me I knoooow! XO**

**Joko over and out**


	2. Chapter 1

**Thanks to everyone who alerted this story and my two first reviewers: Rebel Gurl2011 and The weasel is MINE XP!  
>Keep kicking my ass around for updates, Mnm. Maybe it will help :D<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and any used character! **

* * *

><p><strong><span>Succumb to Temptation<span>**

_Chapter 1:_

It was Monday morning, the beginning of a new week. Ichigo would have to attend school, do homework, avoid her father's annoying attacks, take care of her sisters and of course fight a bunch of hollows.

In the last few weeks the enemies' appearances increased drastically and Ichigo's body had nearly no time to recover, so she felt terribly exhausted but at the same time restless, because for days now Kurosaki Ichigo felt haunted. She never got a glimpse on the person, who watched her, but she knew he or she was there, every second on every occasion -being it during free time from school she tried to spend with her friends, staying at home or when she fought battles against weak and strong opponents-.

And being watched, but not knowing who it was and for what reason, made her nervous. Soon she started to jump at every sound that reached her ears and couldn't sleep calmly, though she needed sleep more than anything else lately.

The girl lay with closed eyes in the darkness of her room. The green curtains were drawn so that no light could pass into the room. One glance at her alarm clock told her that she had more than an hour left till her usual wake-up time. She sighed tired, knowing that sleep wouldn't take over her for the time being.

´I'm not paranoid, am I?´ the orange haired girl asked, doubting herself. She turned around in her bed and her aching muscles made her squinch her chocolate brown eyes shut once again.  
>´Maybe a hot shower will help...`she decided and got out of her bed slowly, pain flashed through the wreck of a body she owned.<p>

She went over to the window and opened the dark coloured fabric. The sun greeted her now and flooded the small room in a bright and warm light.  
>It took some time for Ichigo's eyes to adjust to the brightness that blinded her at first. A look outside presented her a beautiful sight.<p>

Over the rooftops of Karakura Town the sky had taken an indescribable hue. The last orange sunrays faded into brilliant blue. Here and there dogs barked in delight and their owners, who went to work, laughed, happy about their pets' greetings and promises to keep the houses and other family members secure. The whole scenery in front of her drove a smile over her face.

Suddenly a small bird flew past the open window, chirped loudly and startled the orange haired girl. Hesitant at first, Ichigo bend out of the window and looked around in search for the animal. But it wasn't to be seen anywhere, at least nowhere until she spotted it lying on the ground, seemingly dead and unmoving.

The smile that played on her lips moments before was gone for good now with the view of a feathered body lying in front of her home. With a dark gaze and mood she turned around and left her room.

´What a great morning.` she thought cynically and walked into the bathroom located near her own room. She undressed quickly and went into the shower. When the first spurt of hot water fell against her skin and warmth crawled deep into her body she began to relax.

A content sigh escaped her lips once she started to wash and massage her stiff limbs until the aching seemed to have left. She took her time enjoying the water that ran down her slender figure and drenched her orange hair. With a small amount of shampoo Ichigo washed her soft hair and noticed how long- it fell down to the middle of her back now- it had grown.

After a few more minutes Ichigo left the shower and dried her hair with a big towel which she wrapped around her body afterwards. The girl stood in front of the steamy mirror hanging over the bathroom sink, wiped it clear and let her pair of brown eyes examine her reflection. Her skin had a paler complexion than usual; her eyes seemed dull and made Ichigo appear ill and drained.

´I feel somewhat better but I still look like a freaking ghost!` she grumbled displeased. A loud crashing sound snapped her out of her critical thinking and alarmed her at once. Without any hesitation she ran outside the bathroom and down the stairs, securing the towel with one arm.

"What happened?" she called out frantically when she reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in the hallway.

From there she could see the pudding-headed man she called her father running around the kitchen like a scalded cat, waving a burning shirt, he probably wore moments before, in the air. One curse after another leaving his mouth in yells. The orange haired girl walked over to Isshin, snatched the blazing cloth out of the taller man's hand and threw it into the sink. She opened the tap and let the running liquid put out the flames.

"Did you get burned?" she asked observing her father intently. The taller man didn't dare to look at his oldest daughter, knowing what exactly would come next, and just replied with a short headshaking.

It didn't take long for Ichigo to discern what had happened. She was sure that Isshin had tried to cook breakfast for his daughters, though in his clumsy way he set his shirt on fire. Ichigo's eyes rested on the mess he had caused by letting the frying pan fall to the ground, its content scattered all over the kitchen floor. Annoyed she swung her arm and smacked his head.

"How often do I have to repeat myself." she scolded him. "You can't cook, so leave it to the girls."

She turned towards the stairs and commanded "Clean up the mess you've made." before she left her father and the kitchen behind. His mumbled apology reached her but she didn't comment anything. She knew the only man of the Kurosaki family just wanted to surprise his children and do them a favour, so her cold behaviour was a mere act.

"Let's face it, old man. It's Yuzu and Karin being the good cooks here not us." she said reaching the top floor. It was somehow embarrassing to let the younger family members cook , but unlike her father Ichigo faced reality and took things as they were without putting up much resistance, because allowing the orange haired girl to cook meant wasting a lot of food. The high school student saw the fraternal twins step outside of their room. The two little sisters studied the oldest one with curiosity.

"What's going on down there?" Karin asked yawning. A little hidden behind her black haired sister Ichigo could make Yuzu out, who rubbed her left eye, trying to get rid of the sleep she was yet in.

"Father wanted to cook, and... well you know what happens when he does." Ichigo stated and stretched her arms behind her head, feeling the lessen tension in her shoulder blades between now and half an hour ago.

"Did daddy get hurt?" Yuzus eyes widened out of concern. Not waiting for an answer from her older sister the small girl ran towards the kitchen shouting "Daddyyyy!". Reaching him she threw herself into his arms. "Stop crying sweetheart, daddy's fine!" Isshin assured the panicked girl.

"Geez! These two won't ever change, will they?" Karin groaned, shaking her head in disbelieve about her crazy family and entered the bathroom. Ichigo restrained her laughter from slipping out and went into her own room, it was time to change and leave for school, though it was still early.

´Better leave now and wait at school, than have to listen to Yuzu's worrying over father.` she decided quickly. Fifteen minutes later Ichigo was about to step out of her room. One last glance at her reflection and the orange haired girl thought of herself being presentable to the world. Her school uniform fitted perfectly, the make-up she had used, worked against the current paleness of her face and hid the rings under her eyes. Only Ichigo's spiky hair was in its typical unruly way, tied up in a ponytail with her favourite strawberry-hair band.

Ichigo left the Kurosaki house and found herself immediately in a situation, in which her stomach was churning. A few feet away from the high school student the small bird, -Ichigo had seen almost an hour ago- lay on the ground, a stray cat nudged the feathered animal that fluttered weakly.

´Wait... it's alive?`Ichigo noticed in shock. She leaped forward and drove the cat off.

"I can't let you eat this defenceless creature." she stated. The cat lingered under the nearest car and hissed, but didn't dare to approach the human. Slowly Ichigo bend down and picked the bird up from the ground, horrified it started to chirp.

"Shush little one, everything will be fine again..." she whispered softly and continued her way. The small animal in Ichigo's hands seemed to calm down as time passed by. It twittered now and then, but the tiny tot's heart beat at a normal pace. At least Ichigo hoped that this was the normal heart rate of a bird. The high school student examined the small body she held and found one of its wings looking odd, though Ichigo wasn't a vet she guessed the left wing was slightly... ´-burned?` doubt was written all over her face. ´Why would anybody do something horrible like that to a bird?`

"What am I going to do with you now?" the orange haired girl asked aloud. On the way to Karakura High School was a park, maybe leaving the bird there would work. Said park was nice and one of the best places in town if you needed an oasis of calm. The flowers and trees brought nature within touching distance of people. Occasionally when Ichigo went for a walk –out of boredom or because she wanted some thinking time for herself- she ended up in this park. Ichigo entered the park through the gate, walked a little further into it and sat down on a wooden bench located between two big, old plane trees.

´The burn doesn't look that bad...` she regarded thoughtful ´...but maybe I should try to-` the girl couldn't end her track of thinking. The bird made a high screeching noise, jumped from her hands and fluttered away, with the burned wing though the small animal couldn't find its balance and landed on the gravel path a few feet away from the bench.

Before Ichigo decided to stand up, walk over to the poor thing and pick it up again, the bird started a second attempt to fly, this time releasing an even louder panicked sound. At least the observing girl got up and took a step towards the bird. Brown eyes focused on the moving body on the ground. With every passing moment the noise grew louder and louder. "What's wrong? Is this happening because I wanted to use my power?" she whispered. The thought of her doing not being of any help, but rather upset or –even worse- hurt others depressed the orange haired girl. Regardless of the fact that the one involved here was only a small and unimportant bird. Next time it could be one of her friends or comrades..! For a mere second anger flashed through her, not because the bird made her day more troublesome than her nerves needed it to be, nor was it because the animal didn't know what was best for itself. The only thing Ichigo was angered and frustrated with was her stupid self, her incapability of helping a weak creature drowning in discomfort.

One last step lied between her and the feathered being. "Trust me... I'm going to help you." she spoke softly, hoping her tone would have a soothing effect. She was about to cross what little space separated them, when the bird let out a single high pitched cry and hell took over the calm place.

A thin, green blast -coming from somewhere aloft- hit the spot where the bird was lying. Taken by surprise Ichigo had no time to react to anything around her, only a loud yell escaped her mouth when a strong wave of pressure -released right in front of her- hit her with full force and threw her several feet back until she ended up crashing into a tree. Ichigo's mind couldn't comprehend what had happened in detail; her slender body lay on soft, green grass with her back leaning on the nearly unharmed trunk it slid down sheer moments before. Her vision was gone, replaced by pitch black darkness, thus she couldn't see but feel pieces of earth raining down on her, gracing her skin. And there was one other thing she was, unconsciously, aware of: her brain wanted to shut down before she would have to suffer from the pain that surely was about to reach her disturbed synapses sooner or later.

"That's it? The cero never hit her and she's out, just like that? You are shitting me, right?" a dark, male voice stated frustrated. Ichigo stirred, listening to the words and light steps coming from an unknown person near her. Considering the pause that took place before the same voice mouthed its next thoughts, there must have been another, second person around. Ichigo was sure of it... she just couldn't make out what they were saying. Everything seemed too far away in her clouded mind.

"This brat's supposed to be one of the strongest? Don't make me laugh!" the male spat and approached. ´I- I need to...get up...` she told herself. With a grunt, brown eyes opened and trembling arms pushed the body they belonged to away from hard wood. The daylight was too bright and brought dizziness to the girl, everything around her turned to the left, right. She couldn't separate up from down and with the loss of the supporting trunk against her back she fell to the side. It was in that moment that pain engulfed her whole being and a feeling of sickness joined its two friends on the stage. Ichigo broke out in sweat, her empty stomach churned at first and after a low "Urgh!" nothing but stomach acid came up her gullet and out of her mouth, leaving a bitter taste behind.

"Hey! Watch where you are throwing up, bitch!" could be heard from above Ichigo. A foot kicked more than touched the orange haired girl onto the side, rolling her over on her abused back.

"You're really pathetic." the male spoke in a disgusted manner. His same foot lay now on her stomach pressing down on the poor girl now and then, making her cough and struggle to get away.

Ichigo's chocolate brown eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness around her. The first thing she saw was blue, then white, black and more blue again. ´Focus!` she demanded from herself sternly.

"Com' on." slim lips voiced out loudly. A face was right in front of hers, blue eyes meeting her brown, at least focused ones. "Stand up. This whole thing here is rather depressing!" the blue haired guy said with a sneer on his lips, stepping on her with his full weight and treating her like a doormat.

When air found its way back into her lungs a painful cry escaped Ichigo. The arrogant man had disappeared from her vision but the girl could sense him somewhere around. Biting her bottom lip, so that another groan wouldn't leave her mouth, she managed to sit up. It felt like her back was on fire and the dizziness, though not as strong as before, still turned the world around slightly.

´I have to get up.` she reminded herself. Ichigo felt like it took her for ever to stand on her two wobbling legs. It was hard not to stumble around too much, but at least she didn't fall down, landing on the ground again. Pain reached every single point in the slender body.

´Where is my bag? I need the badge.` she panicked. Her head turned into every direction, searching frantically for the school bag made of beige fabric.

´The bench!` she remembered suddenly. She had left the bag at the bench when she got up to help...! The small bird crossed her mind and made her stop in her movement.

´Is the bird even alive?` Ichigo ran towards the spot she guessed her previous location. The wooden bench was there, covered in dirt but still there. The same applied to her school bag, too. But her searching gaze never found the animal. The place, her mind told the strawberry, where she had seen the bird the last time had, vanished into a large whole.

She froze on the spot. "Trust me..." Ichigo could hear her own words she had said some time ago. "I will help you."

´Trust me, trust me, trust me...I will help you, help you, help you...` the words she had whispered echoed through her head.

Anger spread through her, letting her forget the pain she felt sheer moments before. "Why?" she whispered. "How could you do this to a defenceless creature?" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Uncontainable emotions running berserk inside of her send her human body into trembling-mode.

A snicker was the stranger's answer. The mocking sound evolved to a loud crazy laughter. "What do I care about a stupid bird." the white-clad man spat.

"It was annoying after all." he stated, with a calm manner now. A smirk played on his lips while he took the girl's current shaken form in. ´What a stupid brat.` he surely was mightily amused.

"It was weak and died..." he could see how her brown eyes never left his lips "...and so will you!" his last words hollered, he was coming with high speed at the strawberry.

Although her mind was in a disbelieving state caused by her enemy's words, Ichigo was fast enough to reach her bag. Her hands searching for the substitute Shinigami badge, which would allow her to separate her soul from her body without the need of Rukia or Kon. The blue haired assailant put out his hand, touching and causing a huge cloud of dust to surrender everything within a 10-meter radius. The obscuring cloud subsided after a while, revealing the man, who stood in a knew pit now. He looked up, spotting his target, wearing the black Shinigami attire, standing in the air and holding her real body with one arm. Another smirk emerged on his face. "You are quite fast." he acknowledged "But all cowards are, aren't they?"

"You can taunt me as much as you want. I'm not listening to the words of those, who attack the weak." the girl stated unmoved, vanishing into air. A cool and clear head was what Ichigo needed in this situation and as hard as it seemed, she tried with all her willpower not to jump this blue cockatoo and scratch his eyes out.

The man knew the girl would come back as soon as she hid her human body somewhere save. ´She can't escape anyways.` he thought pleased.

"And here you are again, caring about the weak, though you aren't significantly stronger than them." he shouted rather scornful. Sure enough the girl could hear him. "I'll tell you one thing. It wasn't me who killed your precious little friend. My cero would have blown this whole park up, got that?"

Ichigo was back –without her real body of course- occupying the same spot in the sky like before. "I don't believe you." she countered simply. The man, still looking up to her, shrugged disinterested. The substitute Shinigami unsheathed her oversized elegant cleaver. Her irregular Zanpakuto was pulsing in her hands.  
>´Such an impatient old man...`<p>

"This conversation is over." The starting signal of their battle.

With a roar Ichigo leaped forward, her sword right in front of her, aiming for the man's chest. The orange haired girl was fast and in mere seconds Zangetsu's tip had an inch of distance between itself and her enemy's body. Awaiting the moment the blade would cleave through human like flesh she put all her strength and the force of her movement into this first thrust. What the substitute Shinigami never expected was the sudden halt that went through her body. Immediately her widened eyes were on Zangetsu, on Zangetsu and a not bloodied hand holding onto it.

´What the fuck? He stopped my attack with his bare hand?` Ichigo was far more than just startled. Never had something like this occurred during hundreds of battles against soul devouring hollows. The man's involved limb hadn't even the smallest scratch on it, the tanned skin was unharmed. The girl put even more pressure on her weapon.

"How...how is this possible?" her thoughts left her through gritted teeth. The strong hold on Zangetsu's sharp blade shifted almost unnoticeably. Without any hint of trouble the blue haired man swung the broad sword with its owner on the other end through the air. The grip was gone and Ichigo turned through her flight, landing elegantly on the ground. She stood there, focused on the unusual hollow, her hold on the hilt intensified. Cold blue eyes, rimmed with green marks, watched the strawberry unfazed.

"You will never get a scrape on me with your toy-knife over there." his words mocked her. In a flash he appeared before her and kicked the orange haired girl in the stomach, sending her crashing into the next benches and waste bins. Ichigo hurt but she knew the importance of getting up fast. Grunts of pain escaped her while she turned around, looking for the man.

"Right here, Shinigami!" came from behind her. Another kick, this time directed at her back, hit her full force. The hollow was quick and got her with a blow under her chin, he played with her like she was a ping pong ball or something. He was there again for the fourth blow in a row when the girl grabbed him by the muscled shoulder and used his pausing as her advantage. She heaved herself over him and with a precise kick against his back, she functioned his body into a leverage which allowed her to bring enough distance between them. She needed a little time to plan a new approach out considering his strength and speed.

The substitute Shinigami stood on the crown of a younger tree, one of her two hands touching her -pain radiating- middle, the other still in hold of Zangetsu in Shikai form; her opponent in the sky, on a higher level though.

"What the hell are you?" she asked the figure aloft. Maybe this too could lead her to a few more minutes of planning before his next attack would start, though she doubted these actions of his were real attacks. In her eyes they seemed more like a game. ´This blue cockatoo guy is playing with me. Although he looks more human than past hollows we confronted, his skin is hard as steel and he's fast not to mention abnormally strong. How am I supposed to handle him?` she asked herself, analyzing the abilities he had shown this far.

Without hesitation or farther thinking he answered her question. "I'm Arrancar No.6 Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez... and this boring game will end now!" he drawled. A hint of excitement lay in his voice, contradicting his own words. In that moment Ichigo had decided about the next steps she would take. ´There is no other way than switching into Bankai mode.`

The release expression left her almost unmoving lips in a sweet hum. A strong wind got up, dancing leafs and broken pieces of earth made the wind visible for blue and brown eyes. A green flow surrounded the strawberry's figure, cutting off the man's vision over his prey. When the blow died down Grimmjow could detect some differences in the Shinigami's look. The orange haired girl wore a long black coat, revealing little more cleavage than before. The coat itself had ragged ends and its inner side was replaced with red silk. The blue haired guy, though spotting the change in her fashion style, found it far more interesting what had happened to her Zanpakuto. The broad blade had turned into a long and rather thin black blade. Even the hilt turned black and Grimmjow recognized a symbol like design where elegant hilt and sharp blade fused into one. The only non black part on this new sword was a relative short, red chain that ended in a small, tulip-shaped lucky charm.

For a split second interest sparkled in blue eyes, before a cocky smirk took over the Arrancar's features. "Well, well. I never imagined a Shinigami would present us a fashion show at first hand."

An orange brow rose in disbelieve of what the girl's ears had listened to. "Really? Are you stupid or something?" Ichigo barked. The man's smirk died away, his small lips pressed in anger. Never would he allow some brat to call him stupid –not even in a questioning way. Grimmjow flung towards the black clad figure, a hateful cry escaping him. He didn't expect the change in power the girl had also gone through while everything else had changed on the outside. The blade of Tensa Zangestu had stopped his attempt of an attack, though he succeeded in pushing her some inches back.

"Such a small change in your power won't save your life." he spoke, baring his white teeth. "Then dabble in this!" she shouted, jumping back. She raised Tensa Zangestu and slashed plumb, a black energy surrounded by red shot out of the blade. Grimmjow didn't move an inch, didn't shield himself. He stood there waiting for the blast to arrive, taking it with his stretched torso head-on.

Kuroi Getsuga had embraced the Arrancar and nothing of him was left behind. At least Ichigo thought so when she let the breath she was holding out, after the man had disappeared. A splitting laughter reached human ears and the girl's hope of an ended battle was crushed by the loud sound.

´That's not possible...` the strawberry couldn't voice her doubt. Brown eyes scanned the area and there not far away Grimmjow stood on fresh grass. The impact of energy and body had left a great wound on his muscled torso. Blood streamed out of the injury and coloured his clothes but also the green ground in a deep red. The flowing liquid wouldn't cease soon that was for sure.

Ichigo's shattered will mirrored in her thoughts. ´Even the enhanced form of Getsuga Tensho didn't work. My physical strength isn't strong enough either.`

Blue eyes scanned the inflicted wound, though seemingly harmed, those eyes hold a glint of surprise and delight in them. The air around them changed and the source of that was Grimmjow. His now cocked head was directed towards the substitute Shinigami. For the umpteenth time this morning an evil grin played on the man's thin lips. "Now, you're worth killing Shinigami!"

His words and upright, former slack, posture and this death promising _smile _made Ichigo shudder from an inner coldness.

´He's a fucking lunatic!` an immense panic washed over her, worsening her inner tumult. There was no time to overthink or weigh out chances of successful actions. When Grimmjow started to move again –no squinch of eyes or bite down of lips caused by agony- the orange haired girl had decided upon avoiding her enemies near presence, dodge any attack that would be coming. Thanks to Bankai and Ichigo's hyper speed she should be able to achieve this till someone of her comrades and friends found their way to the park, though the girl was already suspicious about why they hadn't come by now.

"Something's off..." she whispered but Grimmjow could hear her none the less. "Why hasn't any of the others come over. The pressure of his reiatsu is disturbingly heavy."

The man took it as his job to explain the happenings to his soon to be dead prey. "There is an almost invisible barrier around us. It hides all reiatsu flowing in its walls and no one can break trough it to enter this space." he allowed a short pause before continuing, his voice soaking of mischievousness "And of course no one can escape through it!" Ichigo expected a sardonic set of laughter but the blue haired man decided against it and chose action. The Arrancar appeared in front of her, hand held high, ready to strike. Luckily Ichigo was fast enough to evade the full blow but his fingers brushed against her side, tearing up black fabric, leaving stinging cuts that draw blood like his bare hands were equipped with claws. Each half-missed assault fetched more tears on clothes and chaps on soft skin. Ichigo had managed to hide behind a group of three or four trees; her back was pressed against one of the trunks, being as still as possible so that the man wouldn't find her as quickly. Her breathing was shallow and that guy had dealt a lot of cuts and slashes on her whole body. The black attire once new and flawless had turned into porous fabric of which most fractions hung limply from her body.

Grimmjow was pissed to say the least. Running after some chick that didn't even try to fight, what was there even more boring? So he thought about a way to get her out of her hole and end this entire ordeal. "I know you are somewhere around, the barrier you know." he began using a high volume. "If you don't want to come out and play, I'll just make you." Was that a giggle that left his lips?

Ichigo clearly just made that sound up. She could hear him leisurely walking around. Oh god! She felt like a mouse hiding from a bad kitty or something. Some time passed by without a significant progress for both of them. That was until the blue haired man spoke up again, this time notably amused and cheerful.

"There you are little girl." he purred very pleased. Ichigo started to look around her, frantically, she needed to know from where his next attack would come.

"Look how peaceful she can sleep in such a situation." he began once more. ´Asleep? What is he talking- no way!` the substitute Shinigami's thoughts came to a sudden halt. She jumped into the open field, whirling around desperately in search for the man. She darted towards the place where she had left her body behind some rose bushes. And there she found Grimmjow, Arrancar No.6, holding her human body in front of him. His sword -Ichigo never noticed till now because of the lack of use it had gone through the last hour- was pointed at her real body's throat.

´Shit. Shit! SHIT!` she screamed inside her otherwise blank head. This encounter, nah! This whole day just went down the drain the longer she kept going on despite her weariness and aching.

"See?" Grimmjow laughed short. "There you are in two parts. The end is here!" he bawled in a deafening and mad way. The orange haired girl never got the chance to take a single step forward, nor did a single sound escape her. The only reaction of hers was the slightly widening of her brown, shocked eyes when his brawny arm, holding his weapon, jerked to the side and in the girl's mind's eye she could see how the blade cut through her in every detail, ending her life.

"Enough."

Picturing Ichigos's current state of mind you could say the girl was stunned. In slow motion picture after picture revealed the previous occurrences. A man, half of Grimmjow's stature, had appeared beside the blue cockatoo. A swift movement with his right arm had send Grimmjow flying till the broad male body crushed loudly into something not visible –the barrier maybe?

"So strong..." the strawberry whispered. Her eyes left the blue haired man's grunting figure and focused on the new person in front of her. He wore similar white and black clothes but otherwise the man looked totally different. Compared to Grimmjow this boyish man was slender, yet Ichigo expected a fairly muscular body hidden under his clothing. It seemed like him and Ichigo had the same height, maybe the guy was a few inches taller than her. His skin was pale, his hair colour was the darkest black –exactly like his upper lip- and in a messy sate and half of it hidden under a broken horned helm; a big contrast to his almost white skin and his wrinkle-free attire. The most capturing part of this person though, was his pair of emerald eyes. Teal lines that reminded the girl of tears descended from those eyes, that held no emotion in them –just like his whole face did- but the vivid green colour wouldn't allow her brain to proceed in its normal working abilities.

That was before her chocolate brown eyes caught the way his arms slung around her form. There, her human body was held bridal style and quite close to his chest and although his jacket was closed so that no skin contact could be made, a warm feeling shot through her, covering her with goose bumps.

´What the hell?` she was utterly confused with herself. The feeling grew warmer and warmer sending a bright blush over her face until the substitute Shinigami felt like a fire would burst through her soul to get out of its cage.

It was strange, unwanted and nigh on the level of painfulness.

"Don't touch me!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. The two Arrancar –yes the shorter one was an Arrancar too with the easiness he had send Grimmjow flying around there was no doubt- watched the human brake out into an uncontrollable tremor. "Stop touching me! Let me be!" Ichigo screamed now, not knowing what else to do to get rid of this... this whatever it really was.  
>A thick, black brow was raised, leaving a pale forehead furrowed. He didn't directly react to her desperate words but let her body fall to the ground none the less.<p>

He turned around speaking up "Let's go Grimmjow. Our mission is over." It was then and there that the orange haired girl remembered about the blue haired man's existence. He stood where he had landed, sending a bunch of hateful looks towards the black haired man.

"I'm not done yet, Ulquiorra!" he spat, ready to jump his own comrade.

"Aizen-sama's order was to collect data about the human that's sided up with the Shinigamis _not_kill her. I watched over your fight, she is trash and no threat to Aizen-sama's plans so we are leaving." Ulquiorra's voice was monotone when he put his analysis about the girl in words. The heat inside and Ichigo's trembling subsided slowly. Being called trash offended her but if those guys would disappear she would slug it down.

"If she's trash, why not finish her off anyway?" Grimmjow contradicted.

"Because" Ulquiorra appeared in front of Arrancar No.6 "the barrier shattered moments ago and a strong presence is coming towards us. And Aizen-sama ordered us to not be seen by anyone else beside Kurosaki Ichigo." cold and sharp words left black and white lips. A hand was placed on Grimmjow's shoulder pressing down on him until he was on his knees. "Do you understand?" the rhetorical question was the last thing said before the black haired man walked over to a black rupture tearing the space in front of him. He stopped over there waiting for the other man.

There was a mere exchange of glances between the blue haired man and the substitute Shinigami before a grin was placed on Grimmjow's otherwise darkened face.

"Your lucky day brat."

They went through the portal and the only thing Ichigo realized was that the boyish looking Arrancar never deigned to look at her. Was she really just trash?

"They are gone..." she exhaled, falling to her knees. If the barrier wouldn't have lost its power and moreover the fight had continued with this aggressive Grimmjow-guy Ichigo wasn't sure she would have made it out of it with only a few injuries. This time luck was really on her side and although the substitute Shinigami disliked this type of ending a battle could take, the girl was grateful.

She was still looking over to the spot where those two hollows... no -´He had called themselves Arrancar.` she corrected herself in thought- ...where those two _Arrancar _had been standing, lost in thought about the whole ordeal. She didn't even notice a familiar presence behind her, not until a hand rested on her shoulder and shook her lightly.

"Oi Kurosaki! Are you alright? What happened here?" concern could be heard in the words of one Toushirou Hitsugaya, who stood now beside Ichigo, wearing their school uniform. His turquoise eyes were scanning the orange haired girl, noting every hidden wound –that was indicated by bloodstained clothing- they could catch. ´Some slashes here and there, but none of them was really grave.` Done with the scrutinizing turquoise met chocolate brown. Nothing more was said by the captain and Ichigo knew well enough not to ignore the Shinigami's questions, because otherwise this silence wouldn't ever end.

She sighed and spoke up "I think two of my ribs are fractured but apart from that..." she looked down on herself, pouting about the fact that she would need a new school uniform "...I'm fine."

Toushirou looked around them and asked right away "I sensed an unknown but strong presence. Is the enemy still somewhere around?"

The orange mop of long hair was shaken, answering no "They left."

In an instant one white, thin eyebrow rose "They?"

"Yes, there were two. But only one of them was fighting me."

"So the other one was hiding his reiatsu." the short captain ended for her.

"Probably." she commented and tried to get slowly up. Pain flashed through her body and made her hiss loudly. The white haired man guided her right arm behind his neck and placed his left arm around her back, resting it on her waist. Their height wasn't equal with Toushirou being short like Ichigo's younger sister Karin; this fact wasn't considered much though. "Let's get you to Inoue. She'll heal you in no time." his soft voice advised her.

"I'll be fine." she started to protest "If Orihime sees me like this, she'll worry too much and cling to me as if I'm going to disappear any possible moment."

From the first moment Orihime Inoue and Ichigo Kurosaki had met, they got along perfectly. It may sound stupid but it's true that their similar hair colour –although Orihime's was a darker shade of orange, a mixture of brown and orange- was the first thing that brought them together. Keigo Asano had told the delinquent of a strawberry how he had seen a girl who had also orange hair. Ichigo didn't believe him at first –Keigo always tended to overstate things he saw and with the words "Yo Ichigo! There is a girl with orange hair like yours, but with way bigger boobs on our school, though I like yours too." coming from her annoying classmate, Ichigo had done the only plausible thing: hit him hard so he found himself lying on the ground and leave for her first lesson as a high school student. When the strawberry entered her new classroom the first thing she saw was another girl, her height and back towards Ichigo with orange hair. In that moment a slight feeling of guilt crossed her. Well apparently Keigo wasn't as hyper and greedy for her attention as she thought. ´Though the comparison of our chests-`she began thinking darkly, till said girl turned around and greeting her new, unknown classmate with a happy "Good morning!" followed by "Oh my! So it's true, there is someone else with this hair colour!" and a growing smile. Ichigos eyes landed first thing on the smiling girl's big breasts, revealing that Keigo was right about this too and Ichigo didn't really liked it when her stupid friend was right, moreover twice a time. Not realizing it her facial expression darkened with her thoughts. The girl in front of her lost her shining smile and looked kind of worried. "I didn't mean to upset you... it's just the first time I meet a person with natural orange hair..." she mumbled apologetic. Ichigo brought back in the present, shook her head, trying to lighten up. "It's fine. I just... I was surprised." The sunny smile was back and it was quite contagious, because chocolate brown eyes laughed back at grey ones. The sides of Ichigo's lips tugged upwards. "My name is Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo." her hand was held up between herself and the other student. "I'm Orihime Inoue. Nice to meet you." Orihime answerd, taking the offered hand. The girls shook hands and started talking about how people reacted towards them because of their hair and although the memories were more upsetting then funny they exchanged words and giggles.

"Oh my gosh! Kurosaki is acting like a real girl!" a voice familiar to Ichigo sounded behind her. The strawberry's right leg left the ground and hit Keigo in the middle, sending him flying outside their classroom. "Shut up, idiot!" Ichigo said scowling, before realizing her action had caused the whole room to fall silent. It was Orihimes loud giggling that broke the silence first, the other students following shortly after with their own laughter. Some guys shouted "Keigo will never learn when to speak or just shut up. Hahahaha!" or "Beat'n up by a girl, what a great school start, man!" Ichigo wasn't sure what to say or how to react but she didn't need to because Orihime took the chance to speak up first, again "Wow! That was cool! I bet Tatsuki would like to have a match with you."

"Tatsuki Arisawa?" Ichigo asked surprised. Orihime didn't expect that her classmate knew her best friend. "You know her?" she questioned in return. Ichigo nodded. "That's great!" Orihime beamed very happy. She took Ichigo by hand and walked over to a table the karate fanatic was sitting at. This was how Ichigo and Orihime had met, linked by Tatsuki and their weird hair colour and by many things they discovered later on. Both had experienced a great loss –Orihime by losing her only relative and last family member, her older brother, Sora Inoue; Ichigo being the one who was without a loving mother she knew Masaki Kurosaki was, by little years she had lived with the happiest woman on earth and by listening to (for her painful) stories her father told the younger twins, so that they would have a lively picture of their mother the two small girls never got to know- but somehow managed to live their lives. Ichigo would never admit it towards anyone but she saw and felt her mother's warm and loving sites in Orihime. Taking into account that the auburn haired, gray eyed girl was the only person Ichigo had ever dared to cry and been hold by (even if it was just once!) it was natural that the orange haired girl didn't want her close friend to worry.

Toushirou wanted to change her mind. His lips opened so he could speak up but Ichigo knew what she needed right now and that really wasn't Orihime Inoue using her abilities and at the same time being on the edge of crying and pleading her friend to stop continuing on the destructive path she had chosen. Ichigo's eyes locked with the captains, desperate to shown him another option in which the innocent human girl had no part in. Her full lips motioned a silent "Please!" and all that was left to the white haired man was to shake his head in light disbelief.

´What stubbornness this girl possesses...` he mumbled before taking the first step. "Then we should get you to Uraharas Shop." Both of them knew that Urahara could help with healing her wounds, though it would take longer, coupled with much, much more pain. The girl whispered a simple "Thank you." and silence took over the duo accompanying them temporary. It wasn't of course the captain's nature to simply obey the girl's will. So he demanded to hear the story about how a big part of the towns' park was destroyed. Ichigo wasn't in the mood of talking, trying not to hiss with every step she took was hard enough, but she was glad.

´I owe him at least that much.` she decided and started to report about enemies & why they left, barriers, battles, though leaving out why she ended up in the park anyway. The substitute Shinigami even told him about the possibility of the green eyed Arrancar observing her.

"So you think they are collecting data about you." the man holding her stated. Her eyes were glued to the ground, feeling quite unnerved. "It seems like that, though I can't see the motive behind this all..." she muttered. The young captain glanced over, recognizing the distress showing on the human face. "Don't worry about it. We'll find the missing pieces in Aizen's plan." his voice held a comforting tone, which made the girl look up. Toushirou was quite pleased when a smile played on her full lips. "Thanks a lot, Toushirou!" Ichigo beamed happily. "It's captain Hitsugaya for you!" the white haired man exclaimed, acting angry, what made the girl laugh. Luck was on his side since Ichigo never saw the lightly blushing face.

Thanks to Toushirou's help and surprisingly strong gigai it didn't take them too long to arrive at their set destination. The big and substantial door opened as if they were expected and not long after the ex-captain stood before his guest eying his delivery girl sceptically with a hint of amusement, he always wore, that wasn't appropriate.

"Hey boss..." Ichigo greeted Mr. Hat-and-Clogs "I...uhm... need your help..."

"That, I can see." Urahara responded and stepped aside, allowing them to pass. A short nod was exchanged between the former captain of the and the young captain of the before the latter went inside, still supporting the orange haired girl.

In a room stocked with an amazingly large wooden table in Japanese style –therefore low and meant to sit on your bend knees- Hitsugaya and Urahara sat, now and then sipping in the steaming got tea out of two filled cups, watching each other but not talking at all. The shop owner glanced under his bucket-like hat towards his guest. He took the thing from his head, smiled like nothing was on fire and said "Mind telling me what happened to my employee, captain Hitsugaya?" Teal eyes locked with grey, thinking about the right way to tell Ichigo's Story without forgetting anything. A few moments passed before the white haired captain chose to repeat the exact words the wounded girl had said to him.

Ichigo, being in a small room furnished with a small bed, cupboard and desk with a single chair -she was currently seated in- was waiting for any kind of treatment that could help the state she was in. Particularly said she was waiting for a tall, muscular man named Tessai Tsukabishi who, according to her boss's words, should be coming over. Ichigo was sick of sitting around and waiting. She stood up and examined the room. Hey eyes roamed over different baseball posters on the wall, finally landing on the bed, a little bit small, but big enough for her if she pulled her knees towards her belly. ´Sleeping is always a good idea.` she thought and walked over to the furniture before lying down. The mattress against her back was a bad idea, though lying on her side wasn't an option either because her ribs started to protest immediately. Face down hurt too, so what was she supposed to do? Anger and frustration took over, curse after curse leaving her shameful mouth.

The substitute Shinigami ended up sitting on the soft mattress, though placed in this uncomfy sitting position, Ichigo's eyelids felt heavy, resisting closing until sleep took over her.

The girl never noticed the door being opened or the person stepping inside and watching her. The figure stepped closer to the unmoving body, a hand stretching out to take hers, gently shaking it. Chocolate brown eyes fluttered open, taking Jinta's fiery hair in. Her mind started to process ever so slowly, noticed the boy's bowed stance. "Ichigo, Tessai said he'll be here soon, ok?" the boy announced in a low voice, not knowing why he even bothered to be preferably silent. Her full lips formed a sleepy still thankful smile "Okay Jinta."

Urahara's young employee went to the desk, sitting down on the chair with his flushed face. The high school student watched the child opening a drawer, taking a sheet of paper and pencil out. ´This is really his room.` Ichigo mused with a hint of a smile adoring her face. "I never knew Urahara makes you do homework," she said. "And for you to obediently listen and do it... wow!" she smirked, her amusement clearly visible in voice and mien. "We have to, otherwise Yoruichi gets mad and..." the boy paused, scribbling something on the paper in front of him. "Sounds fun." the strawberry sing-songed. "Not one bit!" Jinta scowled, turning around and showing the orange haired girl his sour expression. Ichigo started to laugh, regretting it when pain shot through her. In no time the boy was in front of her. His eyes showing worry, he asked "Is it bad? I'll go call Tessai right away." He turned around to leave but was stopped by Ichigo's hand grabbing his arm. "It's fine. I just shouldn't laugh." She winked at him, causing him to blush instantly. ´Cute!` she thought.

"Yuzu surely is a lucky one, with you caring this much not only for her but for her sisters too." The blush deepened noticeably. ´Very cute!` she grinned, ruffling through his red hair to distract the embarrassed boy. "Do your stuff over there." Ichigo suggested, pointing her head towards the desk. "The big man will be here soon enough." As if on cue the door opened, revealing a huge tanned man with moustache and glasses on. "At least, old man!" the red haired boy pronounced, taking his earlier position on his desk and continuing his work. The tall man with dark, cornrowed hair looked with a raised eyebrow at the boy and then at Ichigo. The girl just shrugged, greeting her caretaker with a grin. Knowing that the former leader of Kido Corps in Soul Society would treat her injuries, the strawberry was sure less pain would pursue her afterwards. This man had highly proficient skills in healing people, almost as well as Orihime's.

Tessai motioned for Ichigo to lie down. She didn't. "I uhm... it's a bit... uncomfortably..." she muttered lowly, her gaze moving back and forth between the two males. The small boy, Ichigo was certain about it, although not turning around, had heard her. The giant smiled assuring towards his patient, saying "Only for a bit, Miss Ichigo." His big hands patted her shoulders. The strawberry sighed, but lay down none the less. Her back started to itch and burn. She was glad it stopped the moment a warm sensation engulfed her body, the healing effect literally speeding and powering up with every passing second. Blue light vanished, giving the room its natural colour back, Ichigo sat up. No itching, no pain. Everything was almost back to normal. Her ribs felt a little awkward considering the high speed healing they had gone through, but apart from that she felt great. The orange haired girl stood up and without premonition she tugged her shirt up, studying her revealed front, side and back. "Wow! All the cuts are gone. That's awesome, Tessai!" she shouted before jumping at the giant and hugging him happily.

"You are welcome, Miss Ichigo. Would you kindly fix the state of your clothes..." Tessai asked, his head turning everywhere but to the girl itself. "Sure thing." Ichigo answered and straightened her school shirt, not thinking about what Tessai's words exactly implied. She waved before leaving Jinta's room, without saying anything else, heading towards the location she expected both captains to find. Jinta didn't realize the other man's departure neither the thin trickle of blood running from his nose, too stunned about the sight he had caught, silently hoping Yuzu would obtain a similar body like her older sister's in the future.

"In fact this means Aizen sent his stronger-than-normal-hollows"

"Arrancar." the shorter man interjected.

"Yes, Arrancar. To observe Ichigo. The fight was initiated to help them gather more information and faster." the man with messy light blond hair and chin stubble paused. Hitsugaya nodded.

"And the barrier was especially invented and used so that nobody else would rush over, disturbing their accumulation." Urahara ended his summary. Silence filled the room, an unspoken question remaining unreplied-to: Why did Aizen intent to get only data about the substitute Shinigami rather than all of his enemies?

"Whatever it is that he wants, we'll have to wait till he let us know or makes his next move." Toushirou gritted out unpleased. Urahara was about to comment something, but was stopped by the entering girl. She looked refreshed and her quick and swift movement indicated Tessai's successful treatment. The man in green and white greeted his delivery girl with his usual smile. Hitsugaya, too, had noticed her radiating positive aura and knowing the girl was healthy again made him forget his pondering about hateful traitors, Hueco Mundo and some Arrancar.

"Are you feeling well?" the shop owner asked, he stood up and got a fresh cup of tea for Ichigo, positioning the porcelain beside captain Hitsugaya's. The student -with the dirty uniform still on- sat down, nodding vigorous. "Remember that the healing may lose some of its effect. Pain might return, so it is necessary for you to rest. No fights and no work for the next few days." Mr. Hat-and-Clogs advised in a commanding tone.

"Promise." Ichigo smiled delicately.

"That's good." Urahara acknowledged. "Now let's get back to our problem here." he continued, his grey eyes meeting a turquoise and brown pair.

"I think I got a plan, but I would like to discuss this further with captain Hitsugaya." Ichigo coughed slightly, squirming on her knees. The man beside her glanced surprised –using his formal title and not his first name wasn't usually what Ichigo did- towards the girl, though he didn't question her and neither did her boss. Pale lips formed an "Oh.", before the man stood up and left the room, granting his guests privacy like Ichigo had requested.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! Sorry for keeping you waiting over 5 months for a single chapter! I feel terrible because this chapter is way toooo long. I don't want to ever, ever, ever write such a long thing again... I need to think more about where the future chapters should end and other stuff...<br>I'll try my best in updating a lot sooner, promise! XO **

**Hope you can forgive me and enjoy this story!**

**Greetings, Joko**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Hope you all had a merry x-mas! This is a belated present for all of you! :)  
>Enjoy it!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach and any used character!**

* * *

><p><strong><span>Succumb to Temptation<span>**

_Chapter 2:_

Fifteen minutes had passed since Urahara had left but nothing had changed in a particular room occupied by Toushirou and Ichigo. Okay so _almost _nothing had changed.

After Ichigo's announcement and Urahara's departure Toushirou had shifted into a cross-legged position, facing the girl. He leaned back with his upper body propped up on his stretched arms. Gray pants fitted him perfectly and the champagne-coloured sweater, which covered a white chemise and a striped tie the male students usually wore, with slightly too long sleeves suited the captain. Some might think the white haired man looked better clad in a school uniform than in Shinigami attire and his white haori.

The strawberry's hands were holding the white cup with tea. She never took a sip but needed the porcelain to occupy her hands with. Her nerves were on fire knowing the white haired man was starring her down, waiting for a detailed report of her plan. Teal eyes studied her intently, sending shivers down her spine.

´If I tell him...he will probably kill me...`she thought to herself, jumping up when Toushirou's voice reached her ears, breaking the silence.

"Would you please answer my question, Kurosaki." the man stressed her surname in an impatient way.

"Your question?" Ichigo repeated, glancing over her left shoulder towards him. "Yes, my question. What's with this plan of yours, you mentioned earlier? I'm not eager to attend school but sitting around and waiting endlessly isn't in my preference either." Toushirou stated. His sharp tongue expressed a hint of annoyance. A sigh escaped him because of the lack of reaction coming or better said not coming from the human.

"Ok, ok." she began. "You'll think my idea is stupid, dumb and...whatever but well...nothing else would cross my mind." She turned to the left, her hands resting on her lap now. With her eyes glued to the ground the orange haired girl continued. "Aizen ordered his minions to watch me. I could sense them unconsciously. I think they care a lot more about my Shinigami abilities than how I spend my human life though." She took a deep breath. "So what if I stop fighting hollows since Urahara ordered me to do so for the next few days? I'll go on with my normal life. Going to school, meeting friends...and stuff like that; never using my powers. At least not until they lose interest in me."

"It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. The others and I, we can handle the appearing hollows without you." Silence took over them and the impregnated atmosphere weighed heavy on Ichigo's stomach.

´Here it comes.` the girl thought nervous, daring to look into the captain's sceptical expression.

"But why would you tell this idea solely to me? I can't see myself given a special role-"

She raised a hand to cut him off. "That's not all." A light blush crept up her neck. "What's even more uninteresting than a normal student?" she couldn't hold his gaze any longer.

´Am I stupid or what?` she questioned herself irritated. Chocolate brown eyes watched the only door in the room highly fascinated.

"I don't understand what you are talking about, Kurosaki." Hitsugaya showed his irritation by knitting his fine-shaped white brows.

"A human girl being in...in..." she began stuttering around. Why was it so hard to say a simple word like that one?

"Just spit it out already!" anger and impatience were back on the surface.

"In love!" the girl shouted. She squinched her eyes shut and stopped to breathe because she was afraid and embarrassed to no end. Ichigo's face gained the colour of a real strawberry. Minutes passed by, in the girl's position they felt like years. There was silence until someone laughed. Brown eyes opened hesitantly at first before fear was replaced by anger. "What's so funny?" the girl barked, fighting back tears. The captain's reaction wasn't what she had been expecting. ´He's laughing at me!` she thought hurtful.

"A girl in love only thinks about one person, neglecting duties, and homework. She doesn't care about anything else...I think." she added the last words after a short pause.

Toushirou's laughing ceased down and ended because of the seriousness in the orange haired girl's voice and face. He sat there, watching the wavering rage die down. The red colour was still present in Ichigo's face, even deepening because she didn't know what else to say. Suddenly the orange berry jumped to her feet. "Forget it! This is stupid, I'm going home!" she breathed out and quickly turned to leave. "Stop right there." the man commanded and the female student obeyed automatically. She stood there -held back by a relative small hand around her wrist- not moving an inch.

Toushirou could see tears of frustration and embarrassment that threatened to fall from Ichigo's eyes. Why did he have to feel like he had unwittingly kicked a puppy?

"Sit down, Kurosaki." the captain said in a calm, soothing manner, pulling her back down and letting go the moment she sat on the floor again.

"Give me a minute to think about this." With one hand under his chin Toushirou really considered her idea. "Maybe this could really work out with a well played act..." he muttered under his breath. "But why me and not Abarai or someone else?" he asked her. His teal eyes were searching for an answer in a pool of warm chocolate. He wouldn't admit it in front of anybody but the girl's choice made the short captain feel strange, in a good way. Although he denied it every time; Hitsugaya carried a bit of a complexion about his height inside of him. No wonder when everyone around him in the gotei 13 was older and taller than him.

"As much as I like Renji as a friend, he's an idiot and always acting like a child." Ichigo simply shrugged explaining her choice. "Yumichika is too occupied with himself and Ikkaku...we are talking about Ikkaku here!" the strawberry rolled her eyes.

That made the corners of Toushirou's lips turn upwards in amusement. "You are right about them but I'm a Shinigami, too. Wouldn't a human be a better choice and a lot more unsuspicious?"

Ichigo had thought the same thing in the beginning but she knew the Shinigami would never leave her out of their sight and if the enemy caught them observing the girl, now that would risk the whole play. And what was she supposed to tell the human boy about her reason for _acting_ to be in love. Letting him know, the captain couldn't deny the orange haired girl was kind of right.  
>"What do you think? You gonna do it, captain?" Ichigo asked aloud waiting for an answer.<p>

_In the huge and massive, white castle of Souske Aizen –somewhere located in Hueco Mundo- mentioned king of the vast and desert like world waited in his throne room. The dim lighted room occupied nothing but Aizen's pompous throne with its artistic form. The man, who had been once a captain in Soul Society, sat where only he was allowed to sit down. He rested his head on his right hand, while his calculating brown orbs focused on the white double door on the opposite side of the room. The king with dark brown hair was waiting for two of his children -who belonged to the strongest Arrancar, also known as Espada,- he had sent on a short mission to the human world._

_Ulquiorra had been going after the same observation target for weeks now, so only Grimmjow's part was of short duration._

_Aizen was very interested in the gathered information Ulquiorra would brin. His black haired, fragile looking subordinate never disappointed him. That was why Aizen basically ordered Ulquiorra to fulfil most crucial missions. Grimmjow was sent as the fighting part because he needed to get out. Just like a bored kid he tended to mess with anyone who crossed his path and Aizen didn't like broken walls or loudly fighting children in Las Noches._

_The door opened and an impassive looking Ulquiorra entered the almost empty room, followed by a pissed Grimmjow. Aizen saw immediately that the blue haired Arrancar looked dishevelled and how a nasty wound adored his exposed torso. Blood leaked out of it and stained the white floor._

_Aizen sat up, straightening his back and greeting his two sons. "Well hello my lovely children. How did your mission go?" A sadistic smile played on his lips._

_The pale Espada nodded. Halting several feet away from his master's throne, he raised an arm towards his left eye, a motion that would allow his master to see what Ulquiorra himself had seen during the battle._

_"Wait for a moment, Ulquiorra. Before you show me everything I suggest our little Grimmjow here to go see Szayel and let him treat his injury." Aizen announced. Grimmjow gritted his teeth; shooting a hateful glare towards the other two man, but none the less the blue cockatoo turned around and left. He hated Aizen's guts but he couldn't cross the fear he felt when brown cold eyes focused on him._

_"Continue." the amused king spoke up, nodding his head to emphasize his words. The Espada did as told; his pale hand grabbed his green eye and ripped it out. Surprisingly there was no spilt blood and the dark haired Arrancar didn't show any sign of pain he might, no he probably should have felt. Stretching out his arm, Ulquiorra crushed his own eye and silvery dust streamed out, scattering in the air._

_Meanwhile, Aizen still sat on his throne but this time his eyes were closed. Different pictures appeared in front of his inner eye and in every single one there was the orange haired girl he had seen from face to face over a year ago. There were a bunch of scenes that were not of any interest to him, but none the less the brown haired man noted how the girls figure had slightly matured. Her black attire had tightened around her chest, her striking hair had grown and her fighting abilities held a smooth dance like flow. ´Urahara has trained her well.` he thought excited. With the passing scenes filling up his mind he recognized a growing veil of exhaustion casting over her. Constant battling and psychic manipulation took their cost on even the strongest and talented fighter -the human girl was no exception here-, and Aizen was sure the substitute Shinigami couldn't beat an Espada like Grimmjow or any other halfway strong Arrancar in her condition._

_The time had come for the most important part of Ulquiorra's observation to infiltrate his inner world. A dead bird; nonrelevant. Ichigo being attacked by the blue haired hollow, but not being able to dodge him; mildly interesting but also disappointing. The girl evoking her Bankai? That was a turn on. Aizen had been told, at his time in Soul Society, that the girl had gained access to her Bankai form and that it deferred to a Shinigami's usual change. Thus seeing this first-hand fascinated the king of Las Noches immensely. His eyes took her whole being in, lasting on every changed detail, contrasting before with after. When the small tulip came into his view the man who always knew everything about the smallest things was irritated._

_"What is the meaning of this?" left him in a whisper. A few more moments passed by, the fight had ended and his eyelids lifted, revealing cold, brown orbs._

_"Unfortunately you didn't get to see what I wanted to confirm." the master said, a dry, disappointed tone accompanied his comment._

_"My humblest apology, Aizen-sama. It appears that Kurosaki Ichigo isn't of any value for us." Ulquiorra bend down. A thick black brow went up, when Aizen started to cackle amused._

_"Oh I think you don't understand which information I was waiting for as a result, my dear cuatro Espada." He paused before deciding what should be done next. "You will continue the observation until you get a glimpse of the ability and power I know lies within her."_

_"But Aizen-sama..." Ulquiorra tried to change his master's mind._

_A flash of harshness crossed Aizen's features and his sharp words which followed suited his expression_

_perfectly. "Do you doubt me, Ulquiorra?" There was no way Hueco Mundo's lord would allow a mere pawn of his game to lecture him. The young looking man kneeled down, showing his obedience towards his master. The peasant's action allayed Aizen's wrath slightly. With an indicated smirk and some last words he dismissed Ulquiorra. Sifting through everything Aizen had been shown and musing over a small flower-riddle he would enjoy solving, the most manipulative man on this earth smiled and felt a relatively strong urge to get the orange haired human girl into his almighty hands._

_Ulquiorra Cifer was on his way to his personal room. He needed a little time to sort out his thoughts and what exactly his master's last words meant. Maybe a shower and a calming tea could help him before he would continue his mission the next day. Under the crystal clear water falling from above sly words clouded his mind._

"The moment you lay your eyes upon it, you will understand what I am searching for."

_´What did I miss...?`Emerald eyes closed, isolating him from any distraction. The chances of a miscalculation or misinterpretation of Ulquiorra's analysis was virtually zero. ´She can vanquish pitiful hollows, rather strong menos and adjuchas but she couldn't land a single lethal strike on Grimmjow.` There was nothing that Ulquiorra had missed, was there? The running water stopped and a soaked pale body stepped out of the shower, one arm grabbed a white towel to dry every inch of wet skin. The used towel was stuffed into a hidden basket in the bathroom. Ulquiorra, in all his naked glory, walked over to his dresser, taking his usual clothes out and putting them on. His plan had changed. Incited by Aizen's words the black haired Arrancar had decided to return to the human world once he was done with his preparations._

_Taking his first step through the summoned garganta, Ulquiorra Cifer's mind was focused, eager to find the answer of one single and nagging question: "Kurosaki Ichigo...what are you hiding from me?"_

Three days had passed by since Ichigo's last fight -the one with Arrancar Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez- had taken place in Karakura Town's park. The female student felt better, her cuts didn't sting anymore, her rips still hurt a bit but she could rest and relax and that was a relief. As promised to her boss the orange haired girl didn't participate in anymore battles and her work at Urahara's shop was on hiatus. The only responsibilities Ichigo had at the moment were doing homework; help a little bit in the household and the Kurosaki clinic. Her little sisters had gotten mad at her, thinking the oldest Kurosaki daughter probably had gotten in another meaningless fight she usually got into. Once, Ichigo remembered, Karin had asked if the strawberry had bad karma for being constantly involved in such chaos.

The older sister was thankful her family had no clue what the teen's hitherto unknown spiritual power had gotten them into one night and that without Rukia's appearance they all would have been killed by a damned hollow, named Fishbone D a year and a half ago.

Besides doing the dishes Ichigo wasn't allowed to help the fraternal twins. Especially Yuzu banned her older sister from any other work at home since her and Karin knew Ichigo was hiding scarring cuts and pain behind her smile. So the strawberry was happy when her father had asked her for some help at the clinic, a good way to get away from boredom. Of course the twins weren't amused and protested against Isshin's request, but the old man had cut their whining off with his parental authority he rarely let come to the surface.

Although the tall man often played the fool, Ichigo was sure her father knew what boredom, no work and too much mothering did to his oldest daughter, this being the reason why he had asked for her help originally. Her old, loving dad seemed to know what his baby-girl was going through, Shinigami duties included. He never believed her upcoming excuses of brawls, though several times.  
>Ichigo was really involved in fights with other teens; one resulting in her friendship with the scary but quite Chad. Ishhin's eyes always changed into an empty state when Ichigo lied and the worry that dared to crush him when his girl had gone missing for days -never knowing where she had been- didn't vanish until the moment she returned, thankfully safe and sound, into his strong but useless arms. Ichigo hated herself for what she did to her family since day one of her <em>other life<em>, so she enjoyed spending time with Isshin during his serious work time. It helped relieve some of her guilty conscience.

Like her sisters Orihime was part of the worrying squad. The first thing her close friend had done during lunch break on Monday had been sending a text, questioning why Ichigo hadn't come to school. The strawberry had thought about lying but a second message followed the first, shorter one. It said Ichigo shouldn't even try to do so because Orihime was there with Rangiku and captain Hitsugaya when the man had separated from them to go look after the unrecognized reiatsu they all had sensed near Ichigo's. So in the end the orange haired girl told Orihime half of the truth. She announced that she had fought a quite strong opponent who took his heels in the time Toushirou had come over; that the reason she skipped school was because she felt exhausted and needed some rest. Her message had ended with the words: **I'm fine and good night! XXOO  
><strong>  
>The kind-hearted student hadn't replied anything, allowing her to get some sleep even Orihime knew the strawberry needed.<p>

And now that Ichigo was in school surrounded by all her friends -from both worlds- Orihime felt content with a healthy looking Ichigo beside her and with the knowledge that the Kurosaki girl wouldn't participate in fights in the near future. She had promised, right?

"So how are your sisters doing?" the female student with darker orange hair asked with a smile. Ichigo's answer consisted of a simple shrug. "They are growing. Father is crying because he thinks he's losing his little girls. I'm telling you the old man will never grow up." the berry muttered.

"He loves his daughters, that's why he acts this way." the curvy girl countered sternly. Inoue never liked it when her friend with similar hair colour behaved like her father was a burden she didn't want to shoulder. And Ichigo knew she was acting like a bitch in those moments. At least she had a family she could go home to; Orihime couldn't.

"I know and I'm sorry, Hime." Kurosaki tried to soothe her friend's indignation with the usage of her nickname. Seeing the returning smile the orange haired girl knew she had succeeded.

An almost unnoticeable vibration on Ichigo's foot made the girl look down at her beige, dirty school bag. She pulled her phone out of her bag and opened the message she had received. She didn't recognize the displayed phone number but read the text nevertheless; it said: **Meet me at the back staircase, now.  
><strong>  
>"Who's this from?" someone's voice sounded in her ear. Alarmed the orange haired girl swirled around in her seat, meeting mischievous brown eyes she knew well.<p>

"I don't know what you are talking about, idiot." she said stonily but the twinkling mischief didn't fade. "Don't play dumb. Tell us who's the lucky or should I rather say unlucky guy who got himself involved with you, the almighty Kurosaki?" he walked through the raw of tables till he was standing in the front of the class. "I pity him."

´Oh Keigo, you dumbass. She is going to kill you.` all students in the big room thought, imagining his bloody corpse flying through a broken window. Fortunately for Keigo, Ichigo's jaw dropped before the girl just stood up, took her stuff and walked out of the door without glancing back at her so called friend.

"Stupid Keigo! What's wrong with you and your minus growth brain?" Orihime shouted over to the boy. Irritation along with disapproval resided in Orihime's big eyes.

Out of the classroom, Orihime looked around in search for her friend.. "Ichigo! Wait Ichigo!" the girl grabbed her classmate by the shoulder, stopping her.

"Don't listen to Keigo, he's an idiot." Orihime said cheery. Worried gray eyes watched the orange haired girl -who should be gloomy- laugh hard. "Aren't you sad?" Inuoe asked slightly confused.

"Of course I'm not! You said it yourself; Keigo is acting like a bastard that's all." She brushed a tear –out of sorrow or laughing no one but her knew- and continued. "You should go back to class now, Hime. Mr. Yuki doesn't like lateness, especially in combination with his lecture."

"What about you?" Orihime questioned, although she already knew the answer she would get in a moment. "Naaaah! I'm not up for trigonometry today." Ichigo smiled, turned around and waved. Wandering through the empty floor Ichigo made her way over to the back staircase, thinking of how to get back at Keigo. ´I will make him cry blood!` she promised.

With a dark expression covering her features the girl looked outside of the large windows. On the roof of the nearby building she spotted the man who dared to show himself every time Ichigo turned around. It seemed that the raven haired Arrancar was slacking in his precise way of undiscovered observation or he just didn't care anymore. Brown eyes formed a link with shallow green, before her orange head snapped to the front. A few feet away from her the person she had assumed to be the one behind the unknown number stood, awaiting her.

´It's show time.`

"Hey." a coy smile adored full lips when Toushirou's and Ichigo's eyes met. The captain nodded salutatory, his calculating eyes roamed over the girl's figure then their surroundings.

"Are they here?" he asked her, words spoken out lowly.

"Yes." she answered in the same way. It was then that their pair of eyes met each other again.

"Where?"

Ichigo swirled around like a happy child; her face showed what her action indicated. He followed her a few steps, facing a window of the hallway while the girl pushed her back against cool glass. "He's on the roof of the building opposite from here." the substitute Shinigami whispered; he was smart enough not to look up at the hollow.

"Whatever honey!" she spoke loudly. "I'm honoured to have your phone number. I have heard many girls in school would murder to get it." she joked.

"That may be true but only few get the chance to save it to their contact list." he smirked with his arms crossed in front of his chest. She danced around him, allowing her skirt to swing.

"Why me, dear captain? What's so special about good, old Ichigo?"

´Are you really going to play that game?` Toushirou thought, but said what she wanted to hear either way. "My girlfriend should be able to contact me whenever she feels like it." the white haired man replied, catching the girl by her waist. "Or maybe you don't want that." His face was so close and his teal eyes were captivating. Their current closeness was too much for Ichigo, she needed some distance to tenth division's captain, so she pushed him away. "I'm happy you bothered yourself with this. And knowing Rangiku, it took some time till she gave you my number without getting the details. Poor woman is going to burst out of curiosity." the strawberry giggled humoured. Ichigo had noticed how the lieutenant, provided with bigger breasts than Orihime and herself together, had started several attempts of going over to the orange haired substitute; but was stopped by her captain every time.

"I had to do what I had to do." Toushirou stated, his smirk turning downwards. Ichigo wanted to distract her partner from his upsetting thoughts so she offered to go get something to drink, which the white haired man approved of. The couple walked to the next vendor, enjoying the taken free time.

Orihime felt better when her orange haired friend was back for their next lesson. Though her friend kept looking outside of the window -focused on one point- Orihime couldn't spot from her seat.

The day flew by fast and Ichigo went on with doing her thing. Not once paying attention to their teachers, who mostly ignored Ichigo -the delinquent half the school entitled her.

Art education, second last lesson for the day, began. And because their teacher was absent due to some contagious disease, Kagine was assigned to watch them. The task given to them by the muscled teacher was "Just draw whatever you have on mind and stop bothering me." So art harboured many possibilities of distraction from a pair of green eyes constantly focusing on her.

´How is it possible for a guy to never get distracted by anything around him? And why is he so unfazed, so cold?` she contemplated. It wasn't the first time her mind wandered over to the solitary man who followed her wherever she moved.

´He's acting like my freaking shadow...` Ichigo compared, with a chill running down her spine. ´Why not give him a taste of his own medicine...?` the malicious thought infiltrated her mind.

According to her new decision she began drawing. The orange berry wasn't talented but people usually distinguished what she drew; so he too would understand what exactly she would. With black charcoal flying over her table, the untouched paper turned into a close-up of a black and white face that held no emotion in it.

Both of Ichigo's hands were tinted in dirty black when she let go of her work for the first time ever since the first draw of lines. It was Orihime's keen call –the girl stood in front of Ichigo's table- which had woken her from her trancelike drawing session.

"This is amazing! Do you know that guy, or did you cook him up? He's cute."

Ichigo never replied to her friend's question. Chocolate brown eyes looked at the well drawn portrait. "What the-" she suppressed the curse that was about to escape her plum lips. ´When did I colour them...?` she asked herself silently, while green eyes continued to watch her from below. "Oh fuck it!" she shouted angry, lifting the paper and tearing it apart. It felt horrible to be watched twice by the same deadpan pair of orbs.

"Hey! Stop it!" Orihime screeched shaken but it was already too late. "What's gotten into you? It was really good!" she uttered disappointed.

Again Ichigo ignored Inoue's question. "It was _trash_." the berry declared, standing up and walking over to the waste bin. Without a hint of hesitation she dumped the crumpled pieces and left the room. She needed to go to the girls' restroom and wash her hands clean. ´What a stupid idea! How could a picture affect a heartless Arrancar?` she sighed letting the water run., taking the blackness with it.

The girl would never be corrected about how wrong she was. The hollow had been stunned when he understood what exactly his target put so much intent work in. His pictured face wasn't flawless but well done. Seeing the human destruct what she had created out of nothing had caused a heavy knot to gather in the pit of his stomach. The formed knot weighed even more when her pink lips called him indirectly trash.

Done with the cleaning, Ichigo returned to her class. No one dared to look at the frustrated girl in fear of their health. Soon enough Miss Ochi's lecture would begin. "This is absurd. I've become a living absurdity." she mumbled defeated. Absurd was a word that often crossed the student ever since she was held by that man, or wasn't it abnormal that she dreamed of her enemy every night. There wouldn't be a problem if the substitute Shinigami had been dreaming of him getting kicked in the ass. But her dreams consisted of an abomination. An abomination leaving her flushed and yearning for something that would never be granted satisfaction.

"What's up with her?" the brown haired student, who had come to apologize to Kurosaki, asked the darker orange haired girl.

"What do you want, Keigo?" Orihime hissed, taking her frustration out on the poor boy. "Can't you see that our diva is sealed off in her little world?" she huffed turning towards Tatsuki.

Being ignored by both girls sucked so Keigo had left as fast as he had come over.

_Two-shaded lips were placed upon soft skin, kissing every inch of human silk they could reach. A loud moan escaped sensual lips. Ichigo turned around in his embrace, looking slightly up to meet beautiful, emerald eyes that reminded her of the same-named jewellery stones. Her arms crawled up his bare chest -touching muscles he usually hid under his jacket- wrapping them around his neck. They needed to feel more, touch more of each other. Without as much contact as possibly established they felt incomplete._

_Lost in caresses the girl noticed their new position on her bed just when her back touched the mattress. It felt like an eternity when the dark haired man guided his lips upwards and met hers in a heated kiss. The kiss ended with their requirement of oxygen._

_"I- I need..." she spoke up winded. He was there with an unvoiced chuckle on his lips. She forgot to try again to put her thoughts in words when she gazed up into his eyes. Her reflection in brilliant green orbs filled his universe; she knew it and was fascinated by his passion._

_"I need more of you, -" the girl uttered, her brown eyes widened. It was the first time she wanted to call his name but she couldn't do as she wished. ´His name! I don't remember his name!` her panicked brain screamed. She moved her lips, a second attempt to say his name, but the spot his name should have been filled by was blank._

_Hovering over her lips he moved painfully slow to meet them._

_"Kurosaki..." he whispered tenderly. And because he liked to show her that he knew her name, he repeated it again and again though his tone changed from gentle to mad. His features shifted according to his angry voice. The fact that his mood had switched for no acceptable reason -besides not knowing his name that was- confounded her._

"Kurosaki, please answer the question...are you even listening?" Nothing but soft whispering among the rest of the students filled the room.

The teacher's patience was wearing thin. "Damn it, Kurosaki!" The young woman aimed precisely at the unmoved student and threw her chalk, hitting the girl's forehead and getting her attention back into this world, from wherever the teenager had been moments before.

"Wha-" Ichigo touched the spot where something had hit her; looked at the white piece of chalk and then around, noticing how her classmates were laughing at her, except for Orihime, Tatsuki, some of the disguised Shinigami and her angry teacher Miss Ochi.

"Well, I'm happy you found your way back to our lecture. Now I'll ask you once again. What's the difference between gratis and libre?" the woman with glasses demanded fretted.

Without hesitation the student answered her teacher. "Both words are meanings of the adjective _free_. The difference lies within their correct usage. Gratis means _free of charge_ or _at zero price_. It's used in many licences for free products that are supplied without payment, though the product itself holds some value in it." She paused. "Whereas libre-" her teacher cut her off, sighing. "That's enough. Ishida explain the rest." Like her teacher the orange haired girl didn't listen to what the dark haired boy said; Ishida could easily answer the teacher's request without any trouble. Miss Ochi worried about the fact that Ichigo never tried to do more than what was needed to pass classes, though both of them knew the strawberry could do so much better and gain top scores. On the other hand, the orange haired girl, who knew the second part of the answer well enough, didn't feel the need of paying attention. To her it was of more importance to keep her mind together and stop pondering over meaningless dreams.

What was good about this subject called _homo faber_? Students tended to like it because they usually got good marks with little effort. But Ichigo wasn't interested in good grades and she never liked arguing or philosophising about things.

´As if anybody in this class besides Ishida will get to a point in their later lives where they will have to think about product licences and such. Not going to happen guys...` she kept her feet to the ground. The strawberry always did, at least that was what Orihime had said after healing her friend's wounds almost two weeks ago.

The orange haired student knew her buxom friend watched her intently, searching for an answer for her strange behaviour but she ignored the piercing gaze and looked outside of the window, again. Her mind choose its own way to follow, if she could blend out everything that caused her headaches just for a moment...

´That would be enough.` she thought, lying her head on her table, not caring if Miss Ochi would see her and start scolding the student again.

Quickly the lesson went over and with the ringing bell people got up and left one after the other.

"Hey Ichigo?" a tender hand shook the addressed girl's shoulder and woke her up. Startled the orange covered head shot up.

"Y-yeah? What's wrong?" glazed chocolate brown eyes spotted Orihime withdrawing her hand. "Class is over...I thought I should wake you up before leaving." Worried, big eyes watched Ichigo's mind work up the told information. The strawberry stood up and stretched. "Thanks, if it weren't for you I would have slept through until tomorrow morning!" Ichigo laughed embarrassed, it had been some time since the girl fell asleep during a lecture. "You are fine. Just...watch out. I think Miss Ochi isn't amused." the girl with slightly darker hair whispered before waving towards the woman in front of the room and exiting.

When Ichigo's gaze met the teacher's she felt a little bit anxious. Why had the door been build near the blackboard? There was no way Ichigo could possibly escape the ponytailed woman.

Miss Ochi spoke up. "Kurosaki, I need to talk to you." A smile graced her face but in Ichigo's sight the curve of thin lips was ominous.

´Speaking of the devil...` she sweat-dropped, picked her back up and walked over to the desk her teacher was seated at.

"Look, Ochi. I'm-" Ichigo began. But her choice of words dispelled the woman's smile and turned it into a deep scowl. "It's Mrs. Ochi for you and save your breath! I don't want to hear your shallow apology, Kurosaki." At first harsh, the female teacher's expression changed to a resigning one. "I know that you don't care about your grades but I do, Ichigo." Motherly warmth filled brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. "I can see the potential that lying within you in many other subjects than just gym class...and I will not allow you to graduate from this school with average results. I want you to leave your bored attitude behind and start giving your best, ok?"

Ichigo answered with a nod, since the lump in her throat hindered her from speaking up. "That's good. Now, I want you to write three big essays till the end of this term." the woman explained calmly.

"These will be the topics." A small sheet of paper was handed over to the strawberry:

#Conflict between personal identity and social role

#Determination of Dasein by coincidence or destiny

#Misguided life

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. ´The hell? That's not fair!` Why was she told to do extra work her classmates wouldn't have to do although she succeeded in answering the woman's question earlier on? That was wrong, right? She voiced her thoughts out; nothing could change the resolution of her teacher though. The brown haired woman just cut her student off; with the disapproving frown back on the surface she lectured the student. "I'm well aware that you are capable of answering my questions. But I surely don't approve it when the student I just chided turns around and sleeps through the rest of my lesson!"

Silence took over the room. Ichigo knew her teacher was correct about that one, even so she wouldn't accept this task that easily. Huffed with the older woman Ichgio opened her mouth. Fortunately for the berry a third person intervened in the conflict of teacher and student before her tongue got the chance to say what wouldn't have granted a good end between the two parties.

A thin arm slung itself around the strawberry's waist surprising her. "If I may interrupt for a moment..." a smooth voice began. "What if both sides made a compromise? Ichigo will do the resigned task with some help of her friends if needed." Ms. Ochi took in the way the white haired boy's arm dragged the two students closer together and the reddened face of the orange haired girl.

´I never heard of Kurosaki and Hitsugaya having a relationship...` she mused. ´That's new.`

"Fine. But I want the main part done by her and not by you, got that?" Ochi announced in a serious tone. The male occupant bowed in affirmation, he took Ichigo's hand in his and dragged the girl along and out of the teacher's sight. The red coloured face deepened significantly and the ponytailed woman caught that too. Her reaction was a genuine smile.

´She's acting like a real teenage girl at last.` crossed Mrs. Ochi's mind. In less than two seconds a head of orange hair re-emerged. "Say hello to your husband from me, _Mrs. _Ochi. I never thought the rumours about you and Sensei Kagine were true. He's a little bit freaky, you know." With that said Ichigo winked at the woman and as fast as she had re-emerged the girl disappeared, this time with a humoured giggle escaping her. "Brat!" the woman guffawed after her student.

The newly formed couple walked through empty halls. There wasn't even a single student on school grounds and Toushirou as well as Ichigo were happy about that. It was their first day of performing the plotted act and Ichigo already wished she had stayed home. Escaping for one more day from this disastrous plan seemed like paradise in the girl's eyes. The uneasiness building up inside the young hindered them both to act normal to a certain degree. Never did Toushirou expect from the girl to break the invisible barrier between them so fast.

"D-do you...uhm wanna hang out at my place?" she stuttered. Her head was turned to the left, whereas the white haired man was located at her right. Nervous, about the others response she just continued babbling on. "We could do some brainstorming for the essays...scrub that! I'm sure you don't want to." Ichigo paused for a moment, rethinking. "How about videogames or...argh! I don't know!" Hitsugaya couldn't see the problem the girl felt confronted with. To counter the strawberry's sudden tension he took her hand into his, in an instant her eyes darted over meeting intelligent teal ones. Heat flooded Kurosaki's face once again.

Drawing soothing circles with his thumb, Toushirou's lips turned into an assuring smile. "Just spending our time together is enough for me."

´Bastard, knows how to play his role perfectly!`

Their walk continued in comfortable silence until they arrived at Ichgo's home. High School was over for today and so was elementary school; Isshin would be at the clinic. What about the Kurosaki youngsters though? Ichigo hoped Karin had decided upon playing soccer with her friends and maybe Yuzu was with the head of the family. The strawberry would find out how wrong she was while entering her home.

"Ichigo! Lunch is ready. Do you want some?" Yuzu called from the kitchen.

"Thanks Yuzu, not now!" the older sister answered back, pulling Toushirou behind her and up the stairs.

"But it will cool down soon!" the younger girl pouted audibly.

"Later! I have stuff to do, so don't disturb me!" she shouted, before closing the door behind the captain and locking it. Inside the safe room the orange haired girl exhaled. Who would have thought that hiding her boyfriend could be this nerve-racking? No one knew how long they would have to hold the act up. It could last a few days or several weeks. So maybe introducing Toushirou as a good friend she decided on dating wouldn't be too bad, would it? Her family knew and liked him –ok so Karin knew the white haired boy and admired him for his great soccer skills- they would behave and leave them alone, right? ´No, they wouldn't. Not in a million years.` she thought grimly, imagining the way Isshin would rip the door off of its hinges and demand one of her sisters staying in the same room with the high schoolers. Maybe she was exaggerating but the old man would attack poor Hitsugaya, no doubt about that.

´Safety first!` was the corollary.

"Hey Kurosaki, are you alright?" teal eyes kept the orange haired girl under view. His pale hand was on her shoulder, a comforting gesture being emitted by the well known ice prince.

The girl shook her head, freeing herself from disturbing thoughts. "I'm good, I'm good." she smiled thankful. Watching the man -who under normal conditions didn't show a spark of sympathy and never tried to soothe another person's inner riot- in the attempt of doing the opposite had something heart warming.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Ichigo asked her guest. The response was a bit surprising. His hands took hers and said "Let's just sit down."

´Again with holding hands?` the room owner asked herself; closeness between her and people not being her sisters or Orihime wasn't something the girl was used to. Normally she would kick that person's ass for touching her. But now that Hitsugaya played Ichigo's gentleman like boyfriend, in compliance with her wish, she couldn't shoo him away, could she?

That was a simple request the berry could accomplish without trouble, or so she thought naively. Sitting around was okay, even doing so in silence was no problem but the human contact established by linked hands combined with aforesaid circumstances made the oldest Kurosaki daughter feel unsettled in the four walls she called her own; her sheer will not to jump up and run out of the room made her hair stand up on end.

´Relax, relax, relax.` she repeated in her mind like going through a mantra again and again, causing the white haired captain to let out a gentle laugh. Toushirou felt flattered that he had such an impact on the human girl in front of him. The white haired boy didn't feel very confident in this situation, too. But he would ignore his inner chaos and just go with what felt right. The constant reminder telling him that this was a mission he had taken on -an act he had to play and nothing real- was pushed back towards oblivion when his face moved slowly towards hers. An amused pool of teal caught the widening of Ichigo's chocolate brown eyes and Toushirou could literally read Ichigo's thoughts written all over her shocked face. ´This is a joke, right? He won't...`

´How could she _not_consider kissing as a part of the plan?`

He saw how her resolve of avoiding him crumbled down little by little till nothing was left; he was also there when Ichigo's resistance vanished and interest mixed with excitement took its place. The orange haired girl closed her eyes, anticipating the sensation of cold lips against her own. Ichigo expected them to be chilly, they held the same icy colour of fresh fallen snow like the rest of his body, but they weren't cold. Smooth like frozen water yes, but no such temperature.

Toushirou was slightly disappointed when the windows to the human girl's soul were hidden behind creamy coloured eyeslids but the touch of her plush flesh more than compensated for the loss. The first kiss shared between them had ended as fast as it had been initiated. It lasted a little longer than a peck and carried the same innocence and tenderness.

´That was nice...` Ichigo thought surprised, being separated from the school uniform wearing Shinigami. With her eyes still shut Toushirou let go of the girl's hands. He wanted to see them, more than anything else he wanted to see if a new set of emotions had settled in those mind-blowing orbs. His free hand moved up to her cheek, softly touching it. With his small action he achieved the desired effect. Warm, chocolate brown presented itself to the world and the captain was taken aback by the swirling surge of emotion he had to face.

Whatever he had in mind didn't matter anymore. He just had to dive in for another kiss of this goddess who embodied everything he wasn't. Warmth, emotions and even a coloured being. The man's lips pressed down on the female student with a forcefulness and greed she hadn't experienced before in reality.

In that instant, Ichigo found herself dragged back into a déjà vu, with two fundamental differences. The first was that in her dreams mostly Ichigo was the one to force herself on her partner, not the other way around. And the second? Toushirou's white hair had turned into raven-black; it fell down on the much paler face, framing darkened green eyes. It wasn't Hitsugaya Toushirou who had pushed the strawberry down on her mattress. No, it was the introverted, calculating Arrancar.

Unsure of where exactly the orange haired girl was standing or lying she started kissing back, clinging to the champagne-coloured sweater. Toushirou wouldn't care if she could manage to bore holes into the fabric with the vigour she performed. To him the most important thing was the intensity behind her actions and the intoxicating impact her kiss had unforeseen brought with it.

´Oh goooood!` the substitute Shinigami needed air, wonderful essential air. She tried to push him back, a muffled "W-wait." brushing against the captain. He allowed her to take heavy breaths but continued his way down her jaw and neck none the less. He took his time to kiss every spot that needed his attention; noting the light salty taste her skin had taken over, while Ichigo –with a deeply flushed face- mewled. The disguised Shinigami was at her collarbone now. Licking and nibbling the same favourite spot with no end. His work would surely leave a mark and although Ichigo should care because later on she would need to hide it from other people's eyes, she didn't and Toushirou (oh what a surprise) didn't either.

He never noticed the changed surroundings but the girl did. The atmosphere; it was the sudden coldness near them that had gotten her regard. She looked up and saw him. Was she losing her mind again or why did she see her dark haired stalker standing on the outer side of her window. There was no spark of emotion in the emerald pair of eyes watching her and the captain, but a tension she couldn't put into words flared up inside him with her lips mouthing a single name: **_Ulquiorra_**.

It was unbelievable. Now of all times her unconsciousness brought up the name of the man who had haunted her not just all day long but during her restless dreams too. Why? Why did that happen, she couldn't understand!

The Arrancar, in his white outfit, hadn't left his target through all day. He had seen her sit in class sketching and dozing off. He had been near her when the girl had met with the white haired man she was making out with right now. And it was all more than just uninteresting to him. There wasn't a trace of what his master had told him that got him so fired up in figuring out. At least it was uninteresting until her swollen lips parted to breathe his name out. Yes, he was behind a solid glass panel. And yes, he couldn't possibly hear her because it was a movement and no sound she emitted. But he felt, he saw. Oh screw it! He _knew_it was his name that slipped through her pink lips. No rational thought existed that could make the sudden tension inside of him plausible, still Ulquiorra had felt it rush through him.

The eye contact was broken by the shutting of the chocolate brown pair. Ichigo''s mind couldn't agree upon whether it was more alarming if she imagined her enemy standing outside of her window; watching how her and Toushirou went through their make out-session, or if he _really_was there in such dangerous closeness. She took a deep, slow breath. Once, twice. Her eyelids fluttered open and revealed a shaky brown colour. He was still there, rising a brow. His cat like eyes weren't on her, not directly so to say. They were occupied following the Shinigami above her and his doing.

´Peeping pervert!` she thought her face flushing up tenfold. Luckily the idea to look down on her crossed her relatively clouded mind. Ichigo shuddered when she detected and -for the first time since seeing Aizen's minion appearance- felt Toushirou's heated hand crawling up her leg and under her skirt.

´What the hell?` her brain screamed. ´Scratch the gentleman!` She was okay with kissing -either in a slow or fierce way- but _this_was going too far!

"Stop right there!" she shouted, using the sharpest voice she could bring up. To be better safe than sorry, she pushed the white haired man away from her, causing him to fall out of the bed and crashing hard on the floor. Amusement sparkled in green eyes -no one else noticed- and died down.

"What's wrong?" Hitsugaya said. He ignored the pain in his back and looked over to the girl. She was sitting up in a rather dishevelled shape; her hands pulled down her sweater and straightened her skirt into its original state.

´Oooooh...!` he mouthed but nothing was voiced.

"I'm so sorry! I went too far, oh my god! I never meant to go-" He choked on his words, turning his head around when he caught something from the corner of his eye for a mere second. A white and black clad had been man at Ichigo's window.

"Was that one of Aizen's-" he asked alerted. The girl opposite from him nodded, knowing what he wanted to say. Before he could ask another question, both he and Ichigo sensed a bunch of strong reiatsu in one place. "Shit! You are staying, Kurosaki! No fighting, remember?" was the last thing he spoke before he left his gigai and hurried over to the point his comrades were also headed towards. The orange haired girl was left behind in her room.

"Oh Kon! Where the fuck are you?" Ichigo bolted through her house in search of the golden lion plushy. She had been in her sisters' room but he hadn't been there. Maybe Yuzu was playing with him in the living room. Eventually she was correct and found him in her sister's hug.

"What's gotten into you?" the small girl asked alarmed. What reason could there be for her seventeen year old sister to scream after the plush toy?

"Yuzu, listen! I need Kon for a moment ok? You'll get him back in two minutes, I promise!" the orange haired girl said energetically, one hand already reaching out for her sister's toy.

"What do you want with him? You are acting weird, Ichi!" the girl shouted back at her oldest sister, pulling away.

Both Kurosaki sisters paused for a moment, exchanging an inner battle. Taking a deep breath Ichigo sat down beside her baby sister, she never wanted to frighten.

A warm, assuring smile lighted the berry's face up. "Hey, everything is fine. I just need you to lend me Kon for a moment. I think he has a present for you." While talking, the older teenager ruffled Yuzu's short soft hair. "You trust me, don't you?" Ichigo demanded to know in a non-pressurizing way.

"Of course!" the youngest Kurosaki daughter beamed happily. It was heart breaking how Ichigo needed to lie again, so that she could help her friends but what else was she supposed to do?

With the plush toy stuffed under her arm she went up to her room.

"What do you want me to give her?" Kon asked the substitute Shinigami. The girl would allow him to inhabit her body as long as she had to be absent. Replacing the human had turned into one of Kon's specialities he had no trouble performing.

"This." she said, opening the top drawer of her desk and taking out an old, but never worn, frilly pendant her mother had given her a long time ago. It was too girly for the dark haired twin, so Karin wouldn't get mad at her older sister if she handed it over to Yuzu, who loved pink and frills. In a few years when the youngsters would head towards the end of middle school Ichigo would make to both of them a special present, she kept secret for now. Not even Isshin knew that his oldest girl had taken a few things from her mother's belongings before they had given them away to charity. Being young or not, Ichigo had claimed responsibility for minimizing her father's pain. He loved Masaki's pictures, which filled their home but the possibility of touching her things and smelling the never fading scent of his wife's perfume -she used to apply- was too much for his mental health and crumbling heart. So it was the little girl's endeavour to persuade her mourning father in giving most things away.

The stuffed animal took the small pendant carefully into his paws. "This is a present from your mom, isn't it? Are you sure you wanna give it away?" although he acted most of the time like the biggest pervert the artificial soul had a perceptive side Ichigo found loving.

"It's okay. The thought of wearing it has never crossed my mind." she began explaining. "And I know Yuzu will love it." A smile graced her lips but never reached her earth-coloured eyes completely.

"I have to hurry!" she exclaimed in a rush. "Take care of them, ok?" the girl's soul separated from her human body, of which Kon took over.

"Don't worry." he said with her voice, winking playful and sticking one thump up in the air. With a "Thank you!" uttered the girl in black clothes left through the window of her room.

* * *

><p><strong>Sooooooo, what do you think of this chapter I call <span>Sir Mammoth the second<span>? =D  
>I wanted it to contain the upcoming confrontation-scene between Shinigami and Arrancar...but it got too long. Just wait till the next update on february (exams are going to start soon...) if something is unclear to you send me a PM.<br>Until then fare well my dear readers! Wish you all an happy new year!  
>Btw, did anyone notice that in some way Ichigo accomplished to give Ulquiorra some of his bitter medicine (hint-trash-hint)?<strong>

**-Joko over and out-**


End file.
